Props for Montezuma, a TF2 map

Arhurt

Hey guys I'll be creating some props and posting them here for crits.

The first one is this Tiki torch:




Next comes the "payload". As this is a push ctf map the intel will be replaced by a bomb. Since it's the Blu team that's attacking I'll make it more industrial-looking, but here is the concept (done by another artist):

Mark Dygert

Aww cool! Can't wait to see more

One thing to think about is the end file size, which determines a maps popularity in a big way. The torch looks cool and pretty high res. It's probably ok to work at a higher res but release a smaller version but keep in mind that a big part of TF2 is the broad sweeping brush strokes you see from a distance not really the up close fine little details.

The model looks pretty high res too, which could cause performance issues if there are a lot of these around. I guess you could aggressively LOD them but then that can have a hit on preformance too as well as chunk up the file size?

MOAR! PLS!

Arhurt

Thanks Vig! HJere's the LoD setup right now:



I it isn't too bad. Unfortunately I unwrapped it in a way to preserve the maximum texture space, and I was left with some polys that I just can't ged rid of in the pole.

oobersli

could you maybe show the texture so we could get an idea of how you laid out the uv's?

Arhurt

Sure no problem, but I guess I was just tired when creating those LoDs, at a second take, well, let the stats tell the story...




I know it's not a neat UVW, but I have very little time and still a bunch of props on the list, so I'm calling this one done for now

spetch

Pretty cool man, I wanna see this as a melee weapon. Maybe a substitute for the Pyros flamethrower. I agree with Vig about the larger brush strokes and details. The ringed design could be larger and less defined. You could probably put the entire texture on a 128x512 or smaller and it would still hold up.

Arhurt

spetch wrote: »

You could probably put the entire texture on a 128x512 or smaller and it would still hold up.

Thanks man, I'll look into it, but I think source engine only works with square texture maps, it's a 512x512 now with a 128x128 grayscale specular and 128x128 normal map.

Snader

what i don't understand is why you have 3 nigh-identical pieces of texture. i think you could easily get away wit overlaying,maybe slightly offsetting the bamboo stick part.

anyway good luck with the other props

Arhurt

Snader wrote: »

what i don't understand is why you have 3 nigh-identical pieces of texture. i think you could easily get away wit overlaying,maybe slightly offsetting the bamboo stick part.

anyway good luck with the other props

Duh, you're right